‹ Mackinac Island weather by month
Typical January weather
Mackinac Island
Michigan · January
27° days
9° nights
about 15 rainy or snowy days · 9 hours of daylight · lake 33°
What to pack
- Warm coat
- Gloves & beanie
What January feels like
Service across the straits drops to almost nothing and the year-round community, a few hundred people, has the island entirely to itself. In a cold enough winter an ice bridge forms over to St. Ignace, marked out with discarded Christmas trees, and people cross it by snowmobile; that is not folklore, it is the commute.
Expect about 15 days with something falling — rain, snow, or the sloppy mix in between. The air runs dry — whatever the thermometer says, it wears easy. Nearly every night dips below freezing.
Can you swim?
The lake runs about 33° — frigid — locals in wetsuits only.
The numbers
| Typical high | 27° |
|---|---|
| Typical low | 9° |
| Days with rain or snow | 15 |
| Rain or melted snow | 1.6 in |
| Humidity | dry air |
| Water temperature | 33° |
| Sunrise / sunset (mid-month) | 8:15 am / 5:20 pm |